-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- There 's no question about it -- I hate to lose . On Tuesday , Alex Sink , a great Democrat running in a special congressional election in Florida , lost .

When a campaign does n't go my way , I always take a step back , look at the facts and try to figure out what we could learn from that experience . And we definitely learned some lessons from the Florida special election .

First off , let 's put this in perspective . Republicans held this congressional district for six decades . In the past decade , Congressman Bill Young won his seat by anywhere from 15 % to 38 % . Public polling in the run-up to Election Day showed that the electorate was going to skew toward Republicans by around 10 % .

The actual Republican margin of victory ? About 2 % .

I do n't like losing any race , but let 's not overstate what this was . We saw a Republican win in a district that is traditionally held by Republicans -- by a significantly lower margin than in the past 60 years .

So , what did we learn ?

There 's the Republican dogma , bought by beltway pundits and some in the mainstream media , that it was a referendum on Obamacare . The appeal to repeal worked , so they say .

But , as a great American once sang , `` it ai n't necessarily so . ''

According to David Weigel at Slate , both David Jolly , the Republican , and Sink , the Democrat , `` rejected the national ` narrative ' that the race was a clear referendum on Obamacare . ''

By a strong majority , Independents sided with the Democrat who was committed to fixing and improving Obamacare over the Republican who wants to repeal it .

That was n't enough to change the advantage Republicans held going into Election Day , but we came really close .

How about money ? Yes , Republicans pumped money into this race . Republican special interest groups are still committed to throwing money behind any candidate running with an `` R '' as a suffix . In this race outside Republican groups dumped in $ 5 million to squeak out a win in a district they carried by 15 % in 2012 .

Money might have been a factor , but third party groups aligned with Democrats also poured in money to help get out the vote . So Democrats ca n't entirely say we lost because we were outspent .

What , then , was it about ? What are the real lessons ?

I think there are three : the message , boots on the ground and motivating the base .

1 . Do n't be afraid : The Republican message was , as is so often , `` be afraid . '' Republicans accused Democrats of $ 716 billion in Medicare cuts . This was the same theme , as progressive activist Dave Johnson pointed out , that shifted the 2010 election to Republicans , and it helped again .

It 's ironic , of course , because Democrats want to fix healthcare , make it better and more affordable . It 's ironic because , by a strong majority , independents sided with the Democrat who was committed to fixing and improving Obamacare over the Republican who wants to repeal it . It 's ironic because from the start , Democrats introduced , pushed for , defended and protected Medicare .

But the `` be afraid '' message works well for Republicans , in part because the Democrats do n't counter it . `` Do n't be afraid '' is just not that good of a message .

2 . Hit the ground : The second thing we learned , not surprisingly , is that Democrats can not win without a good ground game -- and turnout still matters .

Let 's face it , more Republican voters filed and submitted absentee ballots than Democrats , and more turned out on Election Day . As Johnson pointed out , 58 % in precincts Mitt Romney won in 2012 , and 48.5 % in precincts Obama won . About 49,000 fewer people voted in this election than in the 2010 general midterm election -LRB- down 21 % -RRB- , and 158,500 fewer than in the 2012 presidential election -LRB- down 46 % -RRB- .

We saw yet again that when fewer people participate in the process , when fewer people vote , Republicans win . Democrats believe that when more people vote , it 's not just good for our party , it 's good for democracy .

3 . It 's all about the base : The third lesson is Democrats must motivate the base and not rely in traditional methods to reach voters .

In this week 's election , turnout was lower than it was in the 2010 midterm elections , and much lower than it was in the 2012 presidential race .

Low turnout in off-year races is always a challenge for Democrats . Many of our voters require information and must be contacted way ahead of Election Day -- and reminded of what 's at stake . Yes , a little red meat helps because these voters tend not to be as seasoned when it comes to knowing the issues , like raising the minimum wage and creating good paying jobs .

Luckily , we 'll have another chance to win this seat back in November -- and with more people voting , we 'll have an even better shot at picking up the seat .

While we learned important lessons that will help us win in November , we wo n't fret over this loss too much . After all , the Republican in charge of electing Republicans to Congress said before the election , `` special elections are n't too predictive for either side going forward . '' That was true before Election Day , and it 's true today .

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile .

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Donna Brazile says Democratic loss in Florida special election was closer than expected

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Still , she says , there are lessons to be learned

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A message of fear , activating base voters and a better ground game helped the GOP win